A Meeting of the Minds
by Part of the Queue
Summary: The first time you meet Luke Smith is not the first time you meet Luke Smith. The 10th Doctor meets Sarah-Jane's son.


This is of course going to be AU by the time the season 4 finale airs, but for now, it's not, so please read and review :D

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The first time you meet Luke Smith is not the first time you meet Luke Smith.

Well… technically it is. You've never met anyone with the name Luke Smith. You've never met a boy adopted by Sarah-Jane, who goes to the local comprehensive high school, who is friends with the girl from across the road, the boy from down the street, and Modlox from the planet Natari. But still…

It was on the Valiant. There was a boy there who the Master had pulled from the rubble of a fizzy drinks factory run by aliens. The Archetype had been left behind when the Bane fled from the Master. They had no use for him if they could not invade the planet.

On board the Valiant, the Master had noticed the psychic potential within the boy. He tested it, played with the Archetype's mind until it nearly broke. The mental scream terrified you when you heard it, locked in your cage.

The Master was amused by the Archetype, 'Look, Doctor! Someone else who doesn't have a name!' You had looked into the boy's eyes, and saw pain, and confusion, and fear. You listened as the Archetype screamed silent screams that only you and the Master could hear, and all you could do was whisper, 'I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry'.

The Archetype's mind burned out in the end. His screams stopped, and his eyes became dull. The Master lost interest, left the husk of the boy on Earth, in the wilderness that was once Manchester, to be taken in by refugees or die.

Six months later, Martha had told the world your story, and the Master was dead, and the year of pain and suffering for the whole world had never happened, and the Archetype was just one person who had died, and now had not.

And now he is sitting in front of you, in the garden of a house in London, drinking lemonade. Donna is next to you, and Sarah-Jane has an arm around her _son_, looking worried even though you have assured her that you poking around Luke's head won't cause any damage. You are not the Master, you're only going to look, not touch.

Luke closes his eyes as you reach across the table and put your fingers to his temples. You take a deep breath and close your own eyes as you push into the young mind as smoothly as you can.

It glows. Glows with potential. All the information that was put there by the Bane is tucked away neatly, ready to be pulled out at a moments notice. A little further, and all the things that Luke has experienced in his short life are on display. Not quite as tidy, but glowing more brightly, with love, happiness, determination, and courage.

So focused are you on finding out about this boy without damaging him, that you don't notice the intrusion into your own mind. It doesn't reach deep, just looking at the memories at the forefront of you mind. Of the Master, and the Valiant, and the Archetype. By the time you notice it's too late, and you open your eyes to see tears streaming down Luke's face, and Sarah-Jane and Donna's worry as they gently pull the two of you apart.

"I'm sorry," you whisper, "You shouldn't have seen that". He shakes his head and swipes away the tears.

"Doctor?" Sarah-Jane wants to know what's going on, and Donna is giving you that disapproving look she has.

You take a deep breath to calm yourself. "I met Luke, on the Valiant, during the Year-That-Never-Was. He was the Archetype, the Master's prisoner". Both women of course know of that year, and of Luke's origins. "He died. I couldn't save him".

You stare at Luke as you say this, watch as Sarah-Jane's arm tightens around the boy as he speaks.

"But you did save me. And all the other people who died. That year never happened. And I'm not the Archetype any more".

You smile then, because you know this really, and your journey through Luke's mind has reassured you more than you thought. You grin now.

"No, you're not the Archetype. You're Luke Smith. And you're brilliant!"


End file.
